Diversity
by MalfoysGenius
Summary: She was a Slytherin. He was a Gryffindor. The one thing to come between them? Expectations. Expectations to be with someone who better suits your status but we all have a little rebellious spirit in us that won't be drowned out.
1. Chapter 1

_Hermione's POV_

She grabbed another handful of rocks all while staring at the black lake. It wasn't like everything should be affecting her this bad….right? Truth was it hurt. Placing a small pebble in her other hand, she threw it as far as she could. The stone broke the surface and ripples formed around the spot where it had landed. One by one, she threw the stones until they were all gone. Only then did she force herself to stop crying before heading back to the dormitory. The walk back to the castle was lonely and extremely painful. With every step, she wanted to burst out in tears ad jump into the lake. She just wanted to disappear to hide from all of it.

_Draco's POV_

The suns bright rays danced on his closed eyelids, waking him up from his slumber. He dressed himself and looked over to where Blaise slept so soundly. Cursing the stupid sun for waking him, he shook Blaise awake. Blaise stirred but still didn't get up. Draco rolled his eyes. Blaise hated waking up for classes. Draco grabbed the almost empty glass of water on the nightstand and poured it on Blaise's face. He bolted up coughing water. Draco smirked then headed down to the great hall.

He slid into a seat in front of the ever arguing Crabbe and Goyle. Every day it was over something different and at times their arguments were extremely childish. Yesterday they argued over whether who Draco favored more. Unknown to them, Draco rather despised them, both of them as a matter of fact. "It tastes like pumpkin! " "Does not! Goyle, you can't taste! It tastes like squash!" Draco glared at both of them. He was used to this by now, so instead he busied himself with his breakfast. He slowly picked at his eggs and bacon, occasionally putting a piece in his mouth, slowly chewing and swallowing.

"Hey Draco. I appreciate the way you woke me." Blasie casually started. "My pleasure" Draco said smiling a bit. "So how's your clique?" Blaise ventured. Draco stopped picking at his food and slowly let the fork down. "Clique?" "Yeah. Your Death Eater friends." Blaise continued, unaware that he was venturing into dangerous grounds. "Fine." Draco grumbled. "Has Voldemort given you a task yet?" This time Draco stood up and glared at him. "That doesn't matter to you now does it Blaise?" Draco whispered through gritted teeth. "Now come on. I'm your best friend, I have a right to know." "Just stay out of it and leave me alone." Draco growled before storming away.

Everybody moved aside as they watched the angry Slytherin stalk by. This was an almost daily thing where Draco was fired up about something. The only place he went to calm down was the common room. The sea of students parted and whispered among themselves, musing over how he, Draco, was upset and who or what could have caused such thing. Draco heed them no attention to not give them the satisfaction. As he turned the corner, he bumped into someone. He grunted angrily at the stupid person who didn't know to move out of his way.

_Hermione POV:_

All that was to be heard was the unmistakable sound of dripping water and crying. They were in the first-floor girls' bathroom. Now the crying wasn't Moaning Myrtle. This time it came from a very much alive girl, Pansy Parkinson. The girls' chocked sobs could be heard echoing around the bathroom accompanied by Hestia's hushed words. Hermione had been standing outside facing the stall with arms crossed across her chest for about twenty minutes now and was growing rather irritated. She couldn't help but blame the one and only Draco Malfoy. If he had kept his true opinion of Pansy to himself, they wouldn't be here still trying to comfort her. If only he hadn't snapped at her the way he had last night. But Pansy had blamed Hermione for everything saying that "if you had been here for me last night instead of going off who knows where, I'd be fine by now!" Hermione had scowled at Pansy but said nothing more. Oh how she would have loved to snap a response right back in her little face.

The door of the bathroom stall opened, making her come back to reality. She mouthed the words "how is she." Hestia looked at her with neutral eyes and shook her head. Hermione took her turn and went in there with Pansy. Pansy was the most difficult girl to please ever. "Pansy, I know you're mad at me but it was Draco's fault. He shouldn't have been such a jerk to you. You're beautiful and he's missing out on the best thing that could happen to him." At this point, Pansy's sobbing had reduced but it hadn't stopped. "STOP INSULTING DRACO! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM!" Pansy yelled at Hermione. Too stunned to speak, Hermione exited the stall. Hestia's' eyes met hers and they shared a knowing nod. Both knew it was best to leave Pansy at this point since any more consoling of their part would be to no avail.

"Hermione, don't blame yourself over Pansy. She's half dumb anyways." Hestia said. "I know but why would she blame me? I can't always be there for her I mean I do have a life." Hestia took her arm and squeezed it, letting her know that she knew and she understood. It angered her that Pansy was always on Draco's side because he was mostly always wrong and didn't care much about anybody else. Pansy was much the same except she was caring…at times. As she turned the corner, a person bumped into her making her petite form collide with the wall. Whoever it had been had been in a hurry or was really mad. However, that didn't justify that they didn't stop and apologize. "Hermione.." Hestia warned in a low tone. "I won't. You go to the great hall…I have something I have to take care of" Hermione smoothly lied. Hestia didn't really buy the lie but she wasn't one to argue with her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Blaise POV:_

He sat there musing over his friends' ridiculous reaction. He did have a right to be upset but the scene he had made had been uncalled for. Just then, he felt somebody slide into a seat beside him. Looking over he saw it was Hestia. She had only two pieces of bacon on her plate. It was odd looking but it was Hestia so Blaise didn't question her. "How's your morning going?" He asked, trying to spark a conversation with her. Without looking up, Hestia shrugged her shoulders slightly but kept on nibbling at the bacon. He continued to ask her questions trying to get her talking but each time, she shrugged him of. Finally he made a break through when he asked where dear Hermione was. "Eh, she went after Draco." Interesting. "After Draco? What for?" "He bumped into her in the hall and didn't apologize and off she went." Hestia said as casually as ever.

Their chat was cut short when a rather happy Pansy came and sat between them. She was all smiles and when he looked over at Hestia, it was obvious that she was a little annoyed. He smirked at the thought but schooled his emotions right away. "Why are you so happy?" Pansy looked at him and grinned even wider. "Well…..I just got a love letter. I was walking out of the bathroom and this rose with a note tied to it was right outside the door." Pansy beamed. "Who was it from?" Blaise asked frowning. He had thought Pansy was head over heels in love with Draco. "Well…it's from a Ravenclaw…" She sighed. Blaise laughed asking "then why are you so happy?" "It's that I've never had anyone like me like that….by the way, where are 'mione and Draco?" "Draco's mad and Hermione is after D-" but before he had finished his sentence, Hestia butt in. "Someone who bumped into her this morning." He noticed Hestia gave him a cold stare before turning away.

Pansy huffed exaggeratedly which seemed to only annoy Hestia a little further. "I'm going to find her." Pansy said getting up and walking quickly away. Blaise turned his attention back to Hestia who was shaking her head with her face in her hands. "What's the matter with you?" Blaise mused. "Don't you see? If she does find 'mione, she's going to find Draco and her together and she'll flip!" Hestia huffed. "You mean that was Draco…" The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "So why aren't you going too?" "She's going to do whatever the hell she wants anyways." Hestia curtly replied before Crabbe and Goyle began to talk to her.

Turning his attention on the matter of Hermione and Draco, it seemed rather odd that they had never met properly. I mean, all his friends were her friends too…..mostly. But what held his curiosity was the way Hermione and Draco could be. Both had big egos and none of the two would back down in anything. So if the two did fight, he'd have to pick a side and he couldn't do that. But then again, a fight between them would be entertaining.

_Hermione POV_:

She continued to follow the blond making sure to keep enough distance between them so that he wouldn't notice but not keeping too much so that she wouldn't lose him. The boy took long even desperate steps. This would have ignited her curiosity in him had it not been that he had been awfully rude. As they continued to walk deeper into the castle, it surprised her that he walked right to the slytherin common room. She knew most everybody in Slytherin and he didn't seem like someone she knew. At least not yet. She followed him inside and waited for the wall to fully close before speaking.

"Hey!" She shouted at him. The boy stopped and slightly tossed his head back. While he was turning around he said, "What do you want now Bla-"but caught himself. He looked at her with a look of confusion on his face. She too was confused but wiped it away. "You bumped into me." She growled. She expected an apology of some sort but the boy shrugged and turned away walking to the boys dormitory. Hermione wasn't about to let anyone walk away from her when they owed her something so she sprinted over to him and held his arm. The blond jolted but before he could open his mouth, she demanded an apology. He looked at her with bewilderment. Then he laughed.

Just at that moment, Pansy chose to come bursting in. "HERMIONE! Ive been looking EVERYWHERE for you!" She was panting and her cheeks had turned red. But the panting soon stopped as she took in what was happening. Her eyes froze on Hermione's hand grabbing Draco's arm and Draco's frozen half smile. "Hermione, don't do anything you're going to regret," Pansy warned.

_Draco POV:_

His eyes darted at Pansy then right back at the said Hermione. She was staring at him with chocolate brown eyes. Her soft pink lips were slightly parted showing a glimpse of pearly white teeth. She had soft creamy skin and she had a small nose. The more he looked at her and replayed her name in his head, the more he could almost swear he knew her. Hermione seemed to notice that he observed her so she let go. She gave him one last look and turned away to go away with Pansy but his hand flung forward and caught her arm. It not only surprised her, but it surprised him too. "Do I know you…?" He asked her, his eyes searching hers for any sign of recognition. What he got was not what he was hoping for. She made a face at him, said no and pulled her arm free. She made a point of turning around and walking away.

All he could do was stand where he was and watch her wordlessly. After she left he breathed in deep before letting it out long and slow. He then remembered that Pansy was still there. He straightened up and watched her hesitantly approach him. "Sorry about that Drakie" she tried apologizing. He in turn scowled and charged to the dormitory completely ignoring her apology. He sat down in his bed, burring his face in his hands.

He knew that name from somewhere. It was there imprinted in the back of his mind if only he could access it. Those soft lips and chocolate eyes held something special for him. It was as if she was a memory from which there were happier times. He knew she meant something to him and he felt that she might know it too but refused to admit it. Either way, he would get to the bottom of it. For the moment, he would give up and occupy himself with getting his stuff ready for class. He just couldn't wait to see her again.

_Blaise POV:_

Hermione and Pansy came in through the doors of the great hall and Blaise curiously watched the pair. Hermione looked lost in thought but at the same time angry while Pansy was either mad or jealous. Hermione sat down beside Blaise and Pansy sat beside Hermione. When she had sat down, she shot him a forced smile. He knew only too well what that smile meant. "Okay, what happened," Blaise started setting aside everything to listen to her. "So it was stuck up Draco. I asked him to apologize but he just scoffed at me. Can you believe him! So then I demanded he apologize and then Pansy came in and I let go of his arm. But then Pansy told me not to do anything stupid and he grabbed my arm and asked me if we knew each other and he kept staring at my eyes and it was creepy. I don't know what was wrong with him, stupid stuck up Draco!" She exclaimed.  
Blaise listened but said nothing even after she was done telling what had happened. He excused himself much to the bewilderment of the girls. He headed to the common room to have a chat with Draco. It seemed so unlike Draco to show as much emotion as he had shown to her. It was quite obvious that Draco was being bothered by something which he hadn't shared with him; otherwise he would have known how to fix it. "Pure-blood" he said when he reached the stone wall guarding the common room entrance. The wall gave way and Blaise walked through the hall and to the dormitory he shared with Draco. Inside, he found Draco packing his things for class. Blaise cleared his throat and Draco's head snapped around to look him in the eyes.

"Muffliato" Blaise said. Now they could start their chat without fear of being eavesdropped. "I'm sorry." Blaise said after a minute long silence. Draco straightened up but he showed no emotion. "I heard about your encounter with Hermione." At the mention of her name, Draco immediately perked up. "Did you now." He ventured. Blaise smirked. "You don't have to pretend with me you know." Draco scowled at his remark. "Where did you hear that from?" "Well, Pansy came and sat beside me and babbled off about it." He wouldn't tell Draco that it was actually Hermione. If he did, Draco would inquire too much and he would tell him things about Hermione. No, if he was going to tell him things about her, he might as well make Draco do things for that information. "Pansy. Of course she would open her big mouth. Ill tell you what really happened later, I promise." Draco said. Blaise accepted and lifted the spell then left to go to his first class.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Hermione POV:_

She continued to pick at her bowl of fruit merely popping one or two in her mouth. Every other noises around her she tried so dearly to block out but it seemed it was worthless because she could still hear Pansy reprimanding her. The girl was quite something when she got fired up on a topic about him. It truly annoyed her that Pansy would be the one jumping to his defense after it was he who made her cry. "Hermione, you're not listening! Listen and maybe Draco might like you….as a friend." Pansy huffed. By that point Hermione was so fed up with her little remarks she whirled around in her seat to face Pansy, a killer glare plastered onto her face. "What the heck is wrong, with, you? What happened to Draco making you cry huh?" Hermione seethed. Pansy seemed slightly taken aback but recuperated quickly enough. "First you have to understand something. We love each other whether or not he chooses to show it is his problem but we have that special connection. He's charming and I really like him. When you like someone that much, it's possible to forgive them for anything." Looking across the table at Hestia, Hermione was almost sure Hestia was holding back a smile. Of course she would have found it amusing but she did not. "Forget it" Hermione puffed under her breath before getting out of her seat. "I'm not hungry." She announced when Pansy was about to ask where she was going. Hermione walked out of the great hall and back to the Slytherin common room where she would collect her things and go to class.

It wasn't one of the best days for her but she was determined to not let it ruin her day. Ancient Runes was her first class so she headed to classroom 6A. The walk there was rather boring as she had no one to speak to. Of course she would have chosen no one to talk to over talking to Pansy any day since the girl simply couldn't keep her mouth shut this particular morning. The halls were filled with students who whispered gossip behind her back as if she couldn't hear them. It was most dreadful too when she had finally sat down in her seat. It was as if on cue, Pansy came in and took the seat beside her. Hermione really couldn't believe how ignorant this girl was. Not in any of her years of being friends with her had she ever thought her of being incapable of reading signs. Pansy was just about to open her mouth when Hermione's hand flung up in the air stopping in front of Pansy's face. "Stop right there." Hermione didn't have to look at Pansy to know that Pansy was acting like Hermione had just committed the crime of the century.

In front of her she heard someone laughing. Her eyes flung up to be greeted by eyes the color of the night. It was Blaise. He seemed to be finding their exchange rather funny. Blaise had a rather odd sense of humor in Hermione's eyes. She only thought things were funny when they didn't happen to her. As soon as she shot him a glare, he laughed harder which only further made her angry. People just loved to get on her nerves and it worked.

_Draco POV:_

As he watched Blaise leave the room, he knew something was up with his friend. It was unlike Blaise to be so cocky about such things he didn't know of. For example, how could he have known what had happened between her and him? Pansy hadn't been there to see most of the encounter so he could only guess that Hermione had been behind the telling of the story and Blaise wasn't letting on to the much he knew. But if Hermione had been the one to let the story spill, she had thought about him, and that was reason enough for a small smirk to appear at the corner of his lips. She had thought about him and even though he didn't know if she hated him, he felt…happy. But he, Draco Malfoy, was most definitely NOT star struck by her. She was just a girl, like every other one he'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. No offense to his mother.

Strolling into Transfiguration class with McGonagall, he found he only had Hestia in that class. There were other Slytherins but none were worthy of his presence. He slipped into the seat beside hers as graceful as a ballerina. She in turn seemed to not care. Or she probably didn't notice since she was always stuck in some opposite world of some sorts. Once he'd pulled out all his books and parchment, he looked over at her. She was staring straight ahead with eyes glued on an invisible target. Her face was empty of any emotion and it almost seemed like she was stone. "What?" Hestia asked. She turned to look at him and he jumped in his chair a little bit. Truthfully, he hadn't expected anything from her. Almost out of nowhere he whisper laughed. He continued to do so about a minute before he could recover and look back at her. Her eyebrow was slightly raised but apart from that, the rest of her features didn't change. He shrugged her off still smiling and laughing a bit. It felt rather good to laugh he found. The rest of the class period seemed to drag by while at the same time flying by. Well actually, he insulted Potter a couple times here and there deducting a couple hundred points from Slytherin.

_Hermione POV:_

"Bye! See you next class we have together!" Pansy said waving at her. Blaise was walking Pansy to her next class since he knew well enough that Hermione needed time to think even if it was just for a couple minutes. As Hermione ambled through the corridors, Pansy appeared on her left. "I got away. I knew you needed a friend and hey! I'm a friend so I thought why not. I feel that-" Pansy was saying before Hermione officially got bored and her own thoughts came in swirling. He knew her and she didn't. Why was that? Surely she would have remembered something about him if she had ever met him. It was unlike her to forget a familiar face.

"Hey!" Pansy exclaimed snapping her fingers in front of her face. "Are you even listening?" "Yeah." She replied. "Then answer my question", Pansy said stopping directly in front of her with arms folded across her chest. "Could you repeat it?" When the words escaped her lips, Pansy huffed and stormed away. Hermione looked on at her friends' quickly retreating form and decided that maybe she had been a little rude. Hermione strolled into defense against the dark arts and quickly took the seat next to Pansy. Pansy on the other hand was given her a drama queen attitude by looking away whenever Hermione tried to get her attention. "Okay I get it you're mad but honestly, I'm sorry." Pansy stopped looking away and slowly turned her head to face her. "Are you serious?" Pansy asked in a low hurt tone. "Yes. Just don't cry." Hermione responded. Pansy brightened instantly.

Since they were at the very back of the room, she could see whoever walked in through the door. So in that moment Hestia came in closely followed by Draco. She felt herself want to jump out of her own skin. It wasn't like she knew the boy long enough to know what he was like or anything of the sort but he gave off a bad vibe. She watched him stroll to the front of the room through slitted eyes. It was pretty obvious he hadn't noticed her since Pansy wasn't flaring up about something.

_Draco POV:_

He settled down towards the front since he knew almost no one in the room and since his family was friends with Snape. He pulled out his wand and laid it on the desk in a bored manner. As much as he liked Snape, he just really hated that he gave out so much homework. Not everybody was studious like he had been when he was their age. Draco glanced over his books and parchment trying to look busy since he couldn't look bored. He was one of the most popular boys at school and he was determined on keeping it that way.

He would have loosened up a bit had it not been for that feeling at the back of his mind that someone was watching him. He scratched the back of his head hoping it was just an itch but when that didn't work he knew. Somebody was watching him and he couldn't be sure whether it was a crush type f look or a serial killer type. Either way, he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Unexpectedly, he swirled his head o face whoever it was and surprise was in store for him. It was none other than Hermione Granger.

She had looked away not even a heartbeat after he'd turned but he knew it was her. He could tell from the way she looked to the side and the pink on her cheeks. It had most definitely been her. "Attention" Snape said from the front of the classroom. His voice was long, slow and cold in an almost sneer like way. Draco swiveled in his seat to face Snape but allowed himself a smile at catching her attention and making her think about him when he hadn't been thinking about her at all. It was odd in a way but he took a lot of satisfaction in it knowing that he was running through somebody else's mind other than Pansy's.


End file.
